Vatican City, 21 May 2014 (VIS) – The
gift of knowledge, 'scientia', that “is not limited to human
knowledge, but which through creation leads us to perceive the
greatness of God and His love for His creatures” was the theme of
the Pope's catechesis during this Wednesday's general audience.
In the presence of more than 50,000
people in St. Peter's Square, Francis explained that this gift of the
Holy Spirit also enables us to discover how the beauty and immensity
of the cosmos speaks to us of the Creator and invites us to praise
Him “from the depths of our heart and to recognise that all that we
have, and all that we are. is an inestimable gift of God and a sign
of His infinite love for us”.
In the first chapter of Genesis, at the
very beginning of the Bible, it is made clear that God is pleased
with His creation, and the beauty and goodness of everything is
repeatedly emphasised. If God sees that creation is good and
beautiful, then we too should assume this attitude. … And when God
finished creating man, He did not say that what he saw was good, but
rather that it was 'very good'. In the eyes of God we are the most
beautiful, the greatest, the best of His creation: even the angels
were beneath us, we are greater than the angels. The Lord loves us,
and we should thank Him for this. … The gift of knowledge places us
in profound harmony with the Creator and allows us to participate in
the clarity of his vision and judgement. And it is from this
perspective that we are able to perceive in man and woman the peak of
His creation, as the fulfilment of a plan of love that is inherent in
each one of us, and enables us to recognise each other as brothers
and sisters”.
“All this is a reason for serenity
and peace, and makes the Christian a joyful witness to God, like St.
Francis of Assisi and many other saints who knew how to praise and to
voice their love through the contemplation of creation. At the same
time, however, the gift of knowledge helps us to avoid falling prey
to the danger of … considering ourselves to be the masters of
creation. Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will;
or even less, is it the property of only a few. Creation is a gift
that God has given us, so that we might take care of it and make use
of it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and
gratitude. The second mistake is the temptation for us to limit
ourselves to creatures, as if they were able to offer the answer to
all our expectations”.
The Pope returned to the first risk,
that of seeking to appropriate creation instead of protecting it.
Creation is “a gift from God to us … and when we exploit it, we
destroy the sign of His love. Destroying creation is like saying to
God, 'I don't like it', and this is not good, it is a sin. Care for
creation is care for God's gift to us, and it means saying to God,
'thank you, I am the custodian of creation, but to enable it to
progress, never to destroy your gift'”.
“This must be our attitude in
relation to creation”, continued the Holy Father: “to protect it,
because if we destroy creation, creation will destroy us! Do not
forget this”. He went on to recount a story of a very simple person
he once met, who loved flowers and took great care of them. “He
said, we must look after these beautiful things God has given us;
creation is ours so that we may benefit from it, not to exploit it
but to protect it, because God always forgives, we human beings
forgive sometimes, but creation never forgives and if you do not
protect it, it will destroy you”.
“This should make us think, and to
ask the Holy Spirit for the gift of knowledge to understand well that
creation is God's most beautiful gift. He has made so many good
things for the greatest creation of all, the human person”.
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